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How royalties work

Get details here on royalty rates, payment for Free Collection Works, and our bonus program for active Adobe Stock Contributors. 

Details on how to request payment on Adobe Stock can be found here: helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/help/getting-paid.html.

These Pricing and Payment Details are incorporated by reference into the Adobe Stock Contributor Agreement.

The below royalty rates apply to assets licensed under Adobe Stock standard plans, such as subscriptions, credit packs, and on-demand licenses. 

Asset type

Royalty Rate*

Photos

Vectors

Illustrations

33%

Video

35%

*The royalty rate is applied to the net price per licensed asset, based on the U.S. purchase price and including any discounts. For example, if the plan costs US$29.99 per month for 10 monthly photo licenses, then the royalty amount (rounded up to the nearest cent) would be US$0.99 per licensed photo (US$29.99 / 10 photos x 33%). Note: actual royalty calculations may not be rounded to the nearest cent. 

Adobe Stock also licenses assets through custom agreements and non-standard plans, such as Adobe Express plans and Pro Edition plans for Creative Cloud for teams and enterprise. Royalty rates for assets licensed under these agreements and plans are either: (A) for non-video assets, 33% of the attributable amount, and for video content, 35% of the attributable amount; or (B) a flat rate. For clarity, you will not be paid a royalty for licenses of assets in the free collection.

Minimum royalty amounts

The following minimum royalty amounts apply to standard assets licensed under the Adobe Stock Large Subscription (350 standard assets per month or larger). Standard assets include standard photos, vectors, and illustrations.

*Excludes licenses from the free collection.

Lifetime Licenses*

Minimum Royalty Amount 

(per licensed standard asset)

0-999

$0.33

1,000-9,999

$0.36

10,000 and above

$0.38

Bonus Program

For our active Contributors, based on the number of downloads your photos, illustrations, vectors, templates and videos receive during the 2022 calendar year, you can earn complimentary access to one of the following plans for one year: Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps, Creative Cloud Photography (20GB), Illustrator Single App, InDesign Single App, Premiere Pro Single App, or After Effects Single App.1

Here are the details:

  • If you have 250–5,999 downloaded qualifying assets, you can choose your complimentary one-year plan from these options: Creative Cloud Photography (20GB), Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro, or After Effects.
  • If you have 6,000+ downloaded qualifying assets, you’ll get complimentary access to Creative Cloud All Apps for one year.
  • Each video download counts as 3 regular downloads. For example, you’ll qualify for the Creative Cloud All Apps plan if you have 2,000 video downloads (2,000 x 3 = 6,000), or a mix of video and any of the other asset downloads, such as 600 video downloads and 4,200 photo downloads.
  • Downloads must occur between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2022, and your Contributor account must be active.1
  • Only downloads from our standard collection of photos, illustrations, vectors, templates and videos qualify. Premium content, 3D assets, templates, Motion Graphics templates, free collection assets, and any other future file types are excluded from the count.
  • Only assets licensed through subscription plans, credit packs, and enterprise agreements qualify.
  • Bonuses will be determined in February 2023, and issued in February 2023. Note that we may update these guidelines at any time, so please check this page for the latest details. 

1 No signup necessary. An active contributor is an Adobe Stock contributor with at least twenty (20) submitted and approved qualifying assets in 2022. Contributors located in countries where the apps are not available are excluded from the Bonus Program.

2 Adobe employees are excluded from the bonus program.

Free Collection Payment

This section applies only to Works that you have nominated, and Adobe has accepted, for inclusion in the Free Collection, as described in the Free Collection Addendum below.
Capitalized but undefined terms below are defined in the Free Collection Addendum.

For each Work Adobe places in the Free Collection, Adobe will pay you per the below table.

Credits will be deposited to your applicable Adobe Stock contributor account within 30 days after the start of each Free Period, with credits converting according to the currency associated with that account, as described at helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/help/getting-paid.html.

Asset type

For Each Work Placed in the Free Collection in 2023

Photos

Vectors

Illustrations

Single payment of 5 credits

Videos

Single payment of 8 credits

Free Collection Addendum

This addendum (“Addendum”) to the Adobe Stock Contributor Agreement (“Contributor Agreement”) is effective May 25, 2023 (“Effective Date”) and applies to Works that you submit to Adobe for Free Collection consideration.   This Addendum replaces previous Free Collection addenda.

By clicking “Agree”, you agree that: 

Process

1.      “Free Collection” is a collection of Adobe Stock assets that may be offered as “free content” as described in the Contributor Agreement. 

2.      A “Submission Period” is any time period in which Adobe enables you to review, edit and submit Works for consideration to be included in the Free Collection.

3.      Your indication that a Work is “nominated” means you are submitting that Work for consideration to be included in the Free Collection in exchange for a Payment (as defined below);

4.      During a Submission Period, you may review and edit your Works submission choices until the applicable submission deadline posted in the Adobe Stock contributor portal (“Submission Deadline”), after which your submission will be sent to Adobe for consideration for the Free Collection;

5.      Adobe may – but is not required to – place any Work you submit for consideration into the Free Collection;

Payment

6.      For each Work Adobe places in the Free Collection, Adobe will pay you as described in the Free Collection Payment section of the Pricing and Payment Details at helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/help/royalty-details.html (or a successor URL); (each, a "Payment");

7.      For clarity, any Work that is not placed into, or that is removed from, the Free Collection is subject to the applicable payment terms in the Contributor Agreement;

Free Period, Auto-Renewal

8.      For one year from the date a submitted Work is first placed in the Free Collection (“Initial Period”) and for any Renewal Periods (each, a “Free Period”), you designate the Work as “free content” as described in the Contributor Agreement;

9.    Following the Initial Period, Adobe may – but is not required to – elect to keep any Work in the Free Collection for successive one-year periods (each, a “Renewal Period”) as described herein; 

10. For Works first placed in the Free Collection after the Effective Date: before a Free Period expires, Adobe will give you prior notice and an opportunity to opt-out of including Works in the Free Collection during the next Renewal Period;

11. For Works first placed in the Free Collection before the Effective Date: 

a.      for the next Renewal Period, you may exclude such Works from the Free Collection during the next Submission Period by following the instructions in the contributor portal before the applicable Submission Deadline;

b.      for all subsequent Renewal Periods, the notice and opt-out process in paragraphs 9, 10 and 12 will apply;

12. Adobe may manage this notice and opt-out process through email, the contributor portal, or other communication methods it chooses;

13.  During a Free Period:

a.      you will not be owed any additional payment for Free Collection Works beyond the Payment;

b.      Adobe may use Free Collection Works to create compilation and/or derivative content (“Compilation Content”);

c.       Compilation Content may be offered to users through Adobe’s applications and services (including any past, current and/or future versions or releases);

Removal of Works

14.  During a Free Period, you will not remove any Free Collection Work from your Adobe Stock portfolio unless technically or legally required to do so (in which case you will notify Adobe of the need for removal by sending an email to contributor-support@adobe.com).

If there is a conflict between this Addendum and the Contributor Agreement, this Addendum governs solely as to (A) Works submitted for consideration in the Free Collection; (B) Free Collection Works during a Free Period; and (C) Compilation Content.

This addendum ("Addendum") to the Adobe Stock Contributor Agreement ("Contributor Agreement") is effective October 11th, 2022 ("Effective Date") and applies to Works that you submit to Adobe for Free Collection consideration. This Addendum replaces previous Free Collection addenda.

By clicking "Agree", you agree that:

Process

1. "Free Collection" is a collection of Adobe Stock assets that may be offered as “free content” as described in the Contributor Agreement;

2. A "Submission Period" is any time period in which Adobe enables you to review, edit and submit Works for consideration to be included in the Free Collection;

3. Your indication that a Work is "nominated" means you are submitting that Work for consideration to be included in the Free Collection in exchange for a Payment (as defined below);

4. During a Submission Period, you may review and edit your Works submission choices until the applicable submission deadline posted in the Adobe Stock contributor portal ("Submission Deadline"), after which your submission will be sent to Adobe for consideration for the Free Collection;

5. Adobe may – but is not required to – place any Work you submit for consideration into the Free Collection;

Payment

6. For each Work Adobe places in the Free Collection, Adobe will pay you as described in the Free Collection Payment section of the Pricing and Payment Details at helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/help/royalty-details.html (or a successor URL);

7. For clarity, any Work that is not placed into, or that is removed from, the Free Collection is subject to the applicable payment terms in the Contributor Agreement;

Free Period, Auto-Renewal

8. For one year from the date a submitted Work is first placed in the Free Collection ("Initial Period") and for any Renewal Periods (each, a "Free Period"), you designate the Work as “free content” as described in the Contributor Agreement;

9. Following the Initial Period, Adobe may – but is not required to – elect to keep any Work in the Free Collection for successive one-year periods (each, a "Renewal Period") as described herein;

10. For Works first placed in the Free Collection after the Effective Date: before a Free Period expires, Adobe will give you prior notice and an opportunity to opt-out of including Works in the Free Collection during the next Renewal Period;

11. For Works first placed in the Free Collection before the Effective Date:

a. for the next Renewal Period, you may exclude such Works from the Free Collection during the next Submission Period by following the instructions in the contributor portal before the applicable Submission Deadline;

b. for all subsequent Renewal Periods, the notice and opt-out process in paragraphs 9, 10 and 12 will apply;

12. Adobe may manage this notice and opt-out process through email, the contributor portal, or other communication methods it chooses;

13. During a Free Period:

a. you will not be owed any additional payment for Free Collection Works beyond the Payment;

b. Adobe may use Free Collection Works to create compilation and/or derivative content ("Compilation Content");

c. Compilation Content may be offered to users through Adobe’s applications and services (including any past, current and/or future versions or releases);

Removal of Works

14. During a Free Period, you will not remove any Free Collection Work from your Adobe Stock portfolio unless technically or legally required to do so (in which case you will notify Adobe of the need for removal by sending an email to contributor-support@adobe.com);

If there is a conflict between this Addendum and the Contributor Agreement, this Addendum governs solely as to (A) Works submitted for consideration in the Free Collection; (B) Free Collection Works during a Free Period; and (C) Compilation Content.

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